Top Tech Journalists’ Favorite Vehicle Tech from CES 2020

Overview
From self-driving vehicle demonstrations to budding concept cars, the present and future of vehicle technology was on display at CES® 2020. Top journalists discuss what caught their eye.

Media get backstage access and have insider conversations on the show floor at CES to keep their fingers on the pulse of the technology industry.

Esteemed journalists — all CES veterans — from a few top tech outlets joined the CES Tech Talk podcast to talk about the emerging trends and promising concepts in vehicle tech from CES 2020, one of USAToday’s top 10 automotive shows, and what they find most exciting in this category.

Tech and Vehicles Go Hand-in-Hand

Beyond the cars on display, Matt Swider, managing editor of Tech Radar, was interested in the integration concepts, the tech companies that featured ways their new products could contribute and even advance the future of mobility.

Swider highlighted Sony’s display that accompanied the Sony Vision-S concept car unveiled at the show. The new vehicle showcased what the tech giant can bring to the automotive industry beyond the car itself, featuring a screen-heavy dashboard and advanced audio systems.

“It’s a combination of great classic technology companies with classic car companies, and they’re going to come together,” Swider said.

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It’s a combination of great classic technology companies with classic car companies, and they’re going to come together.

Matt Swider
Managing Editor, Tech Radar

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Keeping It Earth-Friendly

Dana Wollman, editor-in-chief of Engadget, said the Engadget team was excited by technology like the Wallbox Quasar introduced at CES 2020, the first consumer bidirectional electric vehicle (EV) charger. The technology can charge EVs, but it can also charge smart homes, or even potentially feed energy back to a grid.

“We think that technology has a lot of potential from a sustainability perspective,” Wollman said.
The practicality of EV technology applications, as consumers move deeper into adoption of more ecofriendly solutions, will help them gain momentum and further advancement.

Staying Safe and Secure

After an opportunity to participate in a virtual reality vehicle safety experience test for a company that is working to improve safety measures in self-driving vehicles, Anthony Elio, associate editor at Innovation & Tech Today, has been inspired by safety innovations, which he notes is something that consumers rarely think about but is a huge aspect of mobility, automated or not.

Swider added that technology like the Bosch Virtual Visor, which was a CES 2020 Innovation Award Best of Innovation winner and can automatically block sunlight from drivers’ eyes, will drastically improve the driving experience in small but meaningful ways. New innovations can anticipate, address and even avoid dangers that drivers may experience.

Covering the range of emerging vehicle tech, from tires that go longer distances and are more sustainable to advanced electric vehicles that cover more miles, the three agreed that in the coming decade, mobility — be it on the road or even in the skies with flying taxis — will see both major advancements and continued expansion of revolutionary visions.

Elio noted that he’s staying tuned to find out which concepts from CES 2020 will come to life in the coming years.